These are crucial times in the Indian Premier League (IPL), and Chennai Super Kings seems to have lost the momentum, having suffered three defeats in its last four outings.
The defending champion will be hoping to set its house in order and return to winning ways in the reverse clash against Punjab Kings at the HPCA Stadium on Sunday.
Led by Sam Curran - in the absence of Shikhar Dhawan - Kings earned a well-deserved seven-wicket win against the same opponent, and they hope to ride on the momentum, whereas for Super Kings, it’s about addressing injury concerns and regrouping.
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While Punjab bowling coach Sunil Joshi said that they plan to field an unchanged eleven, changes are on the cards for CSK as the injured Deepak Chahar is ruled out of the fixture and concerns remain over the availability of Maheesh Theekshana.
However, according to the team’s bowling coach Eric Simons, Tushar Deshpande, who was down with flu, has recovered and will be back in action.
For Kings, Kagiso Rabada looked in shape in the previous game and on a surface that might have something for the seamers initially, he will look to bowl a tight spell with the new ball alongside Arshdeep Singh.
It has been a challenge for CSK’s middle-order to get going and despite having some of the biggest names in its ranks, its batting has revolved around captain Ruturaj Gaikwad and Shivam Dube, who have been in fine form.
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Lack of consistency in the middle-order has hurt the team at crucial junctures, and as the race for the playoffs intensifies, the expectations will be high from MS Dhoni, while the seasoned Ajinkya Rahane and Ravindra Jadeja, too, need to step up.
Punjab, though, has a steady batting line-up. With Prabhsimran Singh back among the runs and Jonny Bairstow in good shape, Shashank Singh and Ashustosh Sharma need to keep the middle-order going at a time when it matters the most.
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